Evil Geniuses top Group B over Astralis to secure playoffs in New York

Evil Geniuses have reached the playoffs of ESL One New York following a 2-0 victory in their group winners' match against Astralis.

The series kicked off on Dust2, where Astralis' defence got off to a good start with a pistol round victory, only to be halted by Vincent "⁠Brehze⁠" Cayonte, who brought the heat with a Kreig triple kill on the B site. Evil Geniuses continued their offensive campaign, and despite conceding their opponents' first full-buy, persisted in confident fashion, amassing a six-round lead. The teams went on to exchange two rounds apiece, followed by success from Astralis' double-AWP duo of Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz and Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen, who ensured a 7-8 conclusion to the first half.

Tarik "⁠tarik⁠" Celik kicked off his team's CT side with a stunning USP-S quad kill, and off the back of this outstanding play the team found inspiration to convert the following four rounds, establishing a more confident lead. The match dynamic took a complete 180 turn, as Astralis persistently decimated the defence, with Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander shining through in round 24 with a Krieg triple kill. The teams equalised at 13 rounds each, but Evil Geniuses managed to defend their map pick with a close 16-14 victory.

EG move on to the semi-finals at Astralis' expense

Just like on Dust2, Astralis managed to secure the first pistol round on the offense of Inferno, only to be shut down in round two by a Five-Seven buy from Evil Geniuses on the B site. This created space for a 4-2 lead to be accrued, but the Danish offense gained traction in the ensuing rounds, assuming their second lead of the half after an anti-eco quad kill from Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif was witnessed. tarik and Tsvetelin "⁠CeRq⁠" Dimitrov then wreaked havoc with AWPs for a brief spell before Astralis took the final two rounds to bring the deficit to a minimum.

Evil Geniuses got off to a swimming start on the offense, as a productive pistol round was followed up with four consecutive conversions, furthering the squad to a six-round lead. Andreas "⁠Xyp9x⁠" Højsleth's triple kill with the M4A4 kicked off comeback efforts for the Danish camp. A comeback was not meant to be, however, as a failed Mid rush from Astralis caused financial issues for the final round, which Evil Geniuses secured for a 16-12 closure to Inferno.

ESL One New York 2019Best of 3 AstralisMatchpage 0 2 27th September 2019 Evil Geniuses 14Dust2 16 12Inferno 16

Astralis	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Nicolai 'device' Reedtzdevice	45 - 36	+9	74.4	1.12
Peter 'dupreeh' Rasmussendupreeh	37 - 38	-1	74.6	1.07
Emil 'Magisk' ReifMagisk	39 - 41	-2	80.1	1.02
Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossandergla1ve	29 - 39	-10	57.8	0.88
Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethXyp9x	28 - 45	-17	65.1	0.81

Evil Geniuses	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Vincent 'Brehze' CayonteBrehze	51 - 35	+16	86.7	1.33
Tsvetelin 'CeRq' DimitrovCeRq	43 - 31	+12	73.5	1.18
Tarik 'tarik' Celiktarik	45 - 36	+9	78.5	1.14
Ethan 'Ethan' ArnoldEthan	36 - 43	-7	75.7	1.00
Peter 'stanislaw' Jarguzstanislaw	24 - 33	-9	52.7	0.85

Vincent 'Brehze' Cayonte Age: 21 Team: Evil Geniuses Rating 1.0: 1.12 Maps played: 778 KPR: 0.77 DPR: 0.67 Tsvetelin 'CeRq' Dimitrov Age: 19 Team: Evil Geniuses Rating 1.0: 1.15 Maps played: 806 KPR: 0.76 DPR: 0.62 Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossander Age: 24 Team: Astralis Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 1201 KPR: 0.68 DPR: 0.65 Evil Geniuses #4 Peter 'stanislaw' JarguzTarik 'tarik' CelikVincent 'Brehze' CayonteEthan 'Ethan' ArnoldTsvetelin 'CeRq' Dimitrov Peter 'dupreeh' Rasmussen Age: 26 Team: Astralis Rating 1.0: 1.10 Maps played: 1478 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.65 Emil 'Magisk' Reif Age: 21 Team: Astralis Rating 1.0: 1.11 Maps played: 938 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.63 Nicolai 'device' Reedtz Age: 24 Team: Astralis Rating 1.0: 1.17 Maps played: 1358 KPR: 0.78 DPR: 0.62 Astralis #2 Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethPeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenLukas 'gla1ve' RossanderNicolai 'device' ReedtzEmil 'Magisk' Reif Andreas 'Xyp9x' Højsleth Age: 24 Team: Astralis Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 1535 KPR: 0.67 DPR: 0.61 Tarik 'tarik' Celik Age: 23 Team: Evil Geniuses Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 1143 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.67